Rastafarianism

[Oso]

I agree, as I noted above, around here there is a segment of that population refered to as 'trustafari': rich white kids rebelling against their parents once grandpa's trust fund becomes theirs.

dated a girl several years back who had been in that scene for about 7 years while dating a guy and learned a bit about the locals from her.

[Kristoffer]

Originally posted by Starchaser107
kris
we all are one people

this, I knew
guess I was wrong about Marley.
bless

[Chang Style Novice]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarianism

[Oso]

thanks, bro. seems a fairly objective of a site.

Rastafarians believe that standard translations of the Bible represent changes created by the racist white power structure.

while I won't go quite as far as to say 'racist white power structure' I do not understand how poeple who KNOW that both the Romans and then the English had their way with the words in the Bible can believe something so edited can be the true word of 'god'.

so I can see the Rasta's point there.

[Oso]

is a cool term for the belief that we are all one.

A good book, if taken as just that, is R.A. Heinlein's "Stanger in a Strange Land"

A small cult was established in the late 60's after this book was released. Heinlein was publically emberassed that some people chose to go to such extremes with a work of fiction.

A predominant phrase in that book is "Thou art God"

I see a parallel between what I take as Heinlein's character's intent and the intent of "I and I"

[Oso]

and Happy Belated to Marcus Garvey !

[Former castleva]

I thought I knew my "ism"´s.

[Oso]

ok, so I'm bored.....



I really think that the Rasta interpretation of these scripture verses is stretching things a bit.

Exodus 10:12 "... eat every herb of the land."
Genesis 3:18 "... thou shalt eat the herb of the field."
Proverbs 15:17 "Better is a dinner of herb where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred there with."
Psalms 104:14 "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man."


I have a(nother) pet peeve of people that find excuses for doing things that get them high...if you're gonna drink, smoke, snort or whatever at least have the balls to say "i'm doing it cuz I like to get high"

all other excuses are hogwash.

[Former castleva]

I have a(nother) pet peeve of people that find excuses for doing things that get them high...if you're gonna drink, smoke, snort or whatever at least have the balls to say "i'm doing it cuz I like to get high"

And those are well reasoned reasons.

[Oso]

and thank you all for reading my friday evening rant before I go get high on some gin and tonics.


: )

[Chang Style Novice]

There's nothing wrong with getting high for fun.

Or with getting high to facilitate a spiritual experience.

Just don't drive, 'k?

[Oso]

There's nothing wrong with getting high for fun.

I agree, a lot of people don't have the chutzpah to say that though and will excuse it away somehow.

Or with getting high to facilitate a spiritual experience.

was going to say 'don't agree' but really, if that's what someone needs to do to facilitate the experience that's fine.

but, don't you think it's sorta cheating?

I mean, how much of a reward is spiritual enlightenment if one doesn't work to get there?

It's like in mountain biking...i can't stand the pure downhillers because they will drive to the top and rush down and drive to the top again...you need to sweat to earn the rush, IMO.

[herb ox]

good grief... a man has to know what is in his heart - dreadlocks don't make a Rasta. In fact, most Rastafari prior to the reggae boom of the late 60's/early 70's did not lock their hair. At the time, only a few in the hills were doing it. I believe it was Chris Blackwell who suggested more of the upcoming reggae musicians dread their hair for a more memorable look. And so it went...

I had locks to my waist. I was a roots bassie in a reggae band... I've spent a good deal of time with Rasta from the islands, and I realize its about keeping your head straight when in "Babylon", or the distracted, materialistic society around us... and so much more. It's pretty complicated - you can spend hours "reasoning" with the bredren. Rasta is in your heart, not on your head or in your lungs.

Judge a man by actions - not his hairstyle.

as for the wisdom weed of solomon, why can't the plants (and I mean ALL the plants) of the Earth be used to our benefit? (Watch your step, I think I just spilled some worms out of this can I just opened... ) The Chinese use huo ma for moistening fire and as a laxative. Some eat it, some drink it, some smoke it... the most harm comes from the legal ramifications and paranoia.

peace to all

herb ox

[GeneChing]

Bruce Lee used marijuana. Surely, the overt use of marijuana is the most outstanding aspect of rasta, but this exists in other cultures too. There was marijuana use in early zen, although it wasn't so formative and isn't very present anymore. Actually the roots of rastafarian marijuana use can be traced back to Indian saddhus and Shiva worshippers. They were dreadlocks too and have done so for centuries. Common rasta terms like 'chillum' come from India. "Ganga" comes from the Indian word the the Ganges, their most holy river. You don't hear about people busting on shiva saddhus - that's just because most people aren't very educated on world religion.

Rastafarianism is a fascinating religion. Sure a lot of people use it as an excuse to smoke pot, but I find that a lot better than Christians who use Christianity to kill Muslims and vice versa. What I find fascinating about rasta is that, like Buddhism, there are doctrines - the bible, the Kebra Negast, the writing sof Garvey, but no central text. Much of it is transmitted through music, which strikes me as real old school, like the Mahabharata or Psalms. And as religions go, it's one of the largest expanding groups in modern society worldwide, considering that it's only a few decades old. In all my travels, I've always been able to find Marley. Often, that's the only western influence at all.

As for non-black rastas, most people don't realize what an integrated culture Jamaica is - there are many Chinese, Indian, white, black and native Arawak. Each culture has contributed to make Jamaica the unique land that it is.

[Christopher M]

Originally posted by Oso
I do not understand how poeple who KNOW that both the Romans and then the English had their way with the words in the Bible can believe...

You can get pre-Latin and pre-Anglo editions of the Bible.